Edward Dickinson Baker, a close friend of Abraham Lincoln, U.S. Senator from Oregon, and commander of the California Brigade, as killed at the Battle of Ball's Bluff in Northern Virginia on October 21, 1861. He is the only sitting Senator ever to have been killed in battle.

Generals Nathan G. Evans (Confederate) and Charles Pomeroy Stone (Union) are here depicted gambling at the Battle of Ball's Bluff as the soldiers under Stone's command perilously cross the Potomac. During the battle, there were not enough boats for all the soldiers to cross quickly. After managing to transport soldiers into Virginia, Union forces fought Confederate forces until shortly after nightfall. They ultimately lost the battle, though their defeat was minor in comparison to later battles. However, it provoked outrage from Washington, largely due to the death of Edward Dickinson Baker, a sitting Senator from Oregon and commander of the California Brigade. Stone was treated as a scapegoat for the loss, and the Congressional Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War was established in its aftermath to oversee generals' actions.